March 30, 2008 |

So the Orioles do not play their first game till tomorrow, but in my opinion they won today. I will first off say that I like Jay Gibbons as a person and he was always very nice to me, but Andy McPhail and the Orioles made really the only move I think they could make in releasing Jay Gibbons.

I am not sure if Jay will ever play baseball again, or has the desire to play baseball again, but the Orioles had to do what was in the best interest of their team, and not worry about Jay Gibbons and his future endeavors.

Andy McPhail has 100 % shown in my opinion that he is being allowed to run this baseball team. When he was asked today what the conversation with Peter Angelos about the release of Jay was like he said “Peter told me you have to do what you have to do.” Today also sent a message to the clubhouse that it does not matter what you make, if you do not fit into the plans they are not afraid to move on with out you.

So here is how the Gibbons thing played out this afternoon. We were gathered in the media room and had spoken with Adam Jones, Jeremy Guthrie, and were waiting for Dave Trembley. During the break I walked into the clubhouse and noticed that Scott Moore was listed as the LH bat on the bench for tomorrow, almost at the same time we were told that Dave Trembley and Andy McPhail were ready to speak with the media. While walking back to the room, we were handed the official press release saying Jay was released. After listening to McPhail and Trembley, we walked into the clubhouse looking to see if Jay was around. Now Jay’s locker is in a corner on the opposite side of the clubhouse where you have to pretty much be within 10 feet of it to see if he is there. So we notice a person sitting there with his legs propped up on a chair and talking on his phone, so must people assume it was Gibbons. I and a couple other media members noticed that Brian Roberts, Aubrey Huff, and others were laughing looking in that direction and soon released that it was Kevin Millar sitting there. Now there were some members of the media who fell for it hook line and sinker….it was pretty funny.

Here are some other tidbits from today:

-Jay Gibbons was gone less than two hours and guys were debating as to who was going to get his locker

- All of the coaching staff has been moved into the clubhouse with the players. In the past they have had their own office.

-Adam Jones is a very likeable guy and a guy that fans will find it easy to root for

-Kevin Millar is the leader of that clubhouse. He also has a Terry Crowley baseball card hanging from his locker. He said he is going to hit over 400 homeruns this year (you have to listen to the audio under the Toyotaliveweb banner on the right).

-Jay Payton stood in front of his locker and started “crying” and saying he wants Corey Patterson back and that he misses him. This is because Corey was next to Jay in the clubhouse and now that spot is Adam Jones. Adam started laughing and having fun with Jay.

-Some people in the organization are wondering and little worried about what the reaction for Aubrey Huff will be tomorrow.